Poll: Disgaea: Where shall I begin?

[Ghadente]

Alright, so I have decided to finally give the tactical role-playing game Disgaea a try. FFT is one of my favorites and I've wanted to play a game similar to it.
I was always aware of Disgaea yet never bothered to try it. Mainly because there were usually other games that kept me busy.
I still have more games than i can finish, but am craving some tactical rpg and don't want to replay FFT for the 50th time (though i probably would still enjoy it; last time i replayed it i attempted using Archers exclusively)

Anyway, I am seeking some advice and opinions as to whether it is worth starting the Disgaea series from the beginning and work my way up to the most recent title, or better just to play the latest which i believe is Disgaea 4?
Is the Disgaea story continuous from game to game or is it FF style in which characters and plots are different in each game?

 

[Launcelot111]

I've only played 1 and 4, and while 1 is definitely a good game, I would start with 4. It's got all the features and improvements that the series has picked up as it's gone along as well as the nicest graphics and an awesome story. The stories are largely separate between games, with a reoccurring world but distinct characters and plotlines, though there are a fair number of cameos from older characters in 4 that would go over your head.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend some entry in the series to play if you like FF Tactics. It's over the top in every imaginable way while still fun and challenging. You do get thrown into the deep end a little bit with some of the game's many many features, and it is a little grindy (especially if you really want to make a "perfect" team), but there aren't many games doing what Disgaea does as well as it does.

 

[jehk]

Thanks

I've only played 1 and 4, and while 1 is definitely a good game, I would start with 4. It's got all the features and improvements that the series has picked up as it's gone along as well as the nicest graphics and an awesome story. The stories are largely separate between games, with a reoccurring world but distinct characters and plotlines, though there are a fair number of cameos from older characters in 4 that would go over your head.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend some entry in the series to play if you like FF Tactics. It's over the top in every imaginable way while still fun and challenging. You do get thrown into the deep end a little bit with some of the game's many many features, and it is a little grindy (especially if you really want to make a "perfect" team), but there aren't many games doing what Disgaea does as well as it does.

Thanks for this breakdown Launcelot111. I'll have to give this game a try. Also, your portrait of Koromaru makes me think you are an awesome person.

 

[TehCookie]

Screw traditional thinking, start with 2 or 3 so you're in the middle of the road. So if you go back to play the older ones they don't seem as old or as rough and you have the joys of seeing improvement with the newer ones. If one game is enough for you then play 4 since it is the most polished. If you end up wanting to play the rest you can play them backwards since the stories are all independent.

Otherwise Launcelot111 covers all your other questions.

 

[Roxas1359]

I'd say start with the first one, Hour of Darkness. It's a;ways good to start with the first one to see if you like how the game is.

 

[Harker067]

In the spirit of giving nonconventional answers, go with the cheapest. At the very least you won't have sunk too much into it should you hate it. I've played the first one it was good.

 

[hazabaza1]

Having played 1-3 I'd say that 1 is the best, while 2 is a very close second. Haven't sunk too much time into 3, but I'm not enjoying it quite as much as the others. Still good though.
Also Mr Champloo is fucking amazing.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I have Disgaea 1, 2, & 3 (hoping to get 4 sometime soon). My first (and initial introduction to the series) was Disgaea 2 for the PS2. I fell in love with the game and is still considered my favorite in the series. However, there were a lot of fundamentals that I was in the dark about (Item World's deeper levels, transferring/combining residents, "inheriting" skills through Master/Student relations, etc.). It wasn't until I picked up Disgaea 3 and later 1, that I was able to get a firm grasp of these features and reap the full benefits.

So in terms of gameplay, they are all fundamentally the same. The latter titles incorporate new and better features, such as Stack Attacks and Specials, Throwing and Catching Units, Transforming Monster Units into Weapons, etc. Each of the stories are unique and independent of each other, with some jokes and references made here and there, as well as extra content through the Dark Assembly and DLC towards the end of the game. I will say that in Disgaea 2, after completing about 2/3 of the game, the Red Sun is introduced and it just makes a pain out of training and revisiting older levels because of how much the difficulty ramps up, leaving you to train in the Item World. Also, in Disgaea 3, you are limited to a certain degree on how many units you can create/take with you to battle, which can be frustrating for someone like me who likes to experiment and use different units, or even just have a cool new monster unit like the Undead Dragon or the Heavenly Dragon.

 

[Ghadente]

hmm... thx all for the input, i'm going to take some time to mull it over.

*it would be so much easier if there was a collector's ed. or box set of Disgaea 1-4... then it would be simple.

 

[Adaephon]

Well since there isn't much of a connection between each game you could play them in any order, though the many cameos would be a little bit less funny if you hadn't played the games each character came from (a major part of disgaea 2 involves hanging out with the cast of 1, numbers 3 and 4 involve meeting, fighting with and fighting alongside characters from 1 and 2, etc....) but my personal favourite is still 2. Basically the rule of the series is that, while all the instalments are comedies, the even numbered ones are a bit more serious and tend to be about a central romance while the odd numbered ones are about a megalomaniac learning about why friendship is good (its more compelling than it sounds, trust me). So it depends on your taste, a good analogy would be to ask whether your favourite deadpool stories were wade wilson's war and Deadpool&Cable (fairly serious), or the Deadpool team-ups (extremely goofy).

I liked 2 the best since I think that it had the perfect blend of funny stuff and a serious romance that I really liked and believed, and besides that I didn't like some of the changes in 3 and 4. While the ability to turn monster-type units into weapons for a short period of time was awesome, and the new and improved animations for the skills were amazing, I hated how you had to buy skills instead of just learning them as you went along, I thought that made the games much more grind-heavy (and they were already pretty damn grindy without that fact). But other than a few minor mechanic changes, the gameplay for each game is pretty much the same, so which one to play first just depends on your preference for comedy really, as well as the obvious question of whether or not you can actually get access to each game.

Ultimately it just boils down to whether you want to play a good and very funny story about:
A demon prince conquering the netherworld after his father's death
A human trying to save his family by finding and killing a demon who cursed his world
The son of a demon overlord trying to take over his school and subsequently kill his father and become the overlord
or A disgraced vampire trying to restore competence to the mysteriously malfuntioning government

 

[Snotnarok]

The gameplay gets progressively better as you go, I would however reccomend playing the portable versions over the console releases for one big reason. With handhelds you can do standby mode, meaning if you're in a lengthy battle like say oh...Item world, you can just go into standby and come back. Also the handheld versions have more characters and features to the console counterparts.

 

[Tanis]

D1 is GREAT, but you could probably just watch the (fairly good) anime to get most of the story from it.

D2 has better game play, but I found the story rather weak.

D3 is just, overall, kind of mediocre.

D4 is probably the best game in the series since one. This is mainly because of great game play and a VERY fun story.


I'd also, if you have a PSP, check out the 'Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero' game.
They're hard as hell, but they're also fun and funny.

 

[Ghadente]

follow up question: Is there any chance some sort of collector's box set may be released that includes (at least) all four main games of the Disgaea series?

 

[lapan]

I would start with the first one, since it's one of the best and also the one that got the most cameos in other games. Disgea 2+3 are the weakest and could possibly be skipped. Disgaea 4 is probably the best gameplaywise, but since some of th characters are cameos from the earlier games i'd at least play 1 first.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

follow up question: Is there any chance some sort of collector's box set may be released that includes (at least) all four main games of the Disgaea series?

That would've been awesome, as I have each game on a different system purely because of convenience/laziness (Disgaea 2 on the PS2, Disgaea 3 on the PS3, and Disgaea 1 on PSP). I'm not sure if it would be possible to have four HUGE games on a single collector's box (as Sony has done so with Ratchet & Clank, God of War, Infamous, etc.), but there's high hopes that maybe in the next gen Sony console might include something like that.

My advice is to simply start up with a title you seem the most interested in. I've played all 3 and enjoyed them all; sure some things like quality story and game mechanics might drive you more towards one title or another, but they are all inherently good and will provide with (no joke) hundreds of hours of fun.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The games work more or less independently from each other but that doesn't mean they don't exist within the same canonical timeline. Characters from one game tend to show up in the next as cameo appearences, party members and even boss fights. You don't HAVE to play through all games in order to understand them but I always like to follow the developing studio's progress through a series and appreciate how they evolve (or don't).

Having said that, the first game isn't just a good entry point, it's simply the best in the series. Everybody more or less agrees on this.

 

[Artina89]

I am currently playing Disgaea 4 and I have to say it is the most fun game I have played in a while. I find it funny and it has been one of those games where I have lost track of time because I have enjoyed building up my characters. I also found it easy to pick up and play.

 

[Ryotknife]

I would say Disgaea 1. It is by far the simplest of the games in terms of mechanics and features. Jumping straight into D4 would be a headache, hell Im a huge disgaea fan and i still dont understand a lot of the new mechanics in D4 (stupid reverse pirating)

 

[Weaver]

I would personally just start with 4. However, if you want to play any of the older ones I would suggest 1.
2 and 3 I might recommend just skipping entirely.

These games can be incredibly long (if you want them to be). Playing all 4 could take you a very, very long time.

 

[dimensional]

Only played 1 3 and 4 I would either just get 1 as its got the best characters but the story sort of pettered out imo they just dragged it out too long still great game though. Other than that 4 is the most polished and has a more cohesive story and almost as enjoyable cast so I would probably go with this one.

Fundamentally they all play the same later games add more elements but each game can last you for a ridiculous amount of time if you really want, storywise you dont have to know anything about any of the other games really they are stand alone if somewhat similar stories in each.